The Truth Doesn't Always Hurt
by NothingbutButterbeer
Summary: James Potter has never been anything but a sadistic git, but recently, Lily has been finding it harder to maintain her fierce hatred of him... Will she still be able to hold back after James proves that he can do the one thing she never expected out of him? Jily Enjoy :)
**A.N.: Hey guys! Jily is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE ships, so I really hope you enjoy this! :)**

 **Disclaimer: As much as I would love to be able to write something as remarkable as _Harry Potter_ , I do not own the series (our queen J.K. Rowling does :D). **

**Enjoy!**

"Hey, Evans-wait!"

"Oh, just leave me alone, Potter. I'm not one for your idiotic antics, all right?" Lily huffed, rolling her eyes as James persistently tried to talk to her.

James Potter was nothing short of an imbecilic pig, to be polite. He was always making a ruddy ruckus and causing trouble with no eye for the consequences. It was true that besides being an unbearable git, he was a rather dapper, er… _toned_ Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, and charmer… but he was still an unbearable git so none of that mattered…

Lily shook these traitorous thoughts out of her head as she continued ignoring James's desperate calls from behind her. She strode forward towards her Charms class, James just an annoying- yet determined- fly buzzing about her. Bloody hell, what would she give for just one swat at him…

"Lily, just hear me out! What harm could possibly come from just _talking_ to me?" James cried, clearly frustrated.

Lily abruptly stopped and whirled around, causing James to collide into her. Stabbing a finger into his chest, she began:

"What _harm_? What _HARM_? Potter, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you've bloody dated and dumped half the Hogwarts female population. I will not be just another " _prize_ " you win and string onto your collection of heartbroken girls. You think it's all right to treat a relationship like a game; just end it and start a new one when the fun's all over, right? Well, Potter, I'm here to tell you that I won't be just some measly game you play until you get bored. I'm a live human being with feelings and emotions, and you better have the decency to shut up and leave before I shove your wand up your arse," Lily growled, putting up a hand when James opened his mouth to protest.

She turned back around to continue walking, her head up with pride and satisfaction, and left James staring at her back in shock. Lily congratulated herself on her handling of the situation until she felt a strong hand grasp her wrists and a low voice whisper," Is that really what you think I want?"

 _Crap_. She felt a shiver run down her spine and found herself slowly turning around to face James, her heart practically pummeling her chest and her skin tingling where he was gripping her. This was _not_ how it worked. James was supposed to walk away defeated and leave her the hell alone, not try to allure her with this... ahhh, _seductive_ charm. Wasn't there a rule about this somewhere... _The Wizard's Guide to Witches: Where and When to_ _Bloody Stop (The Idiot's Version)._

Summoning up all the courage she could muster, Lily finally managed a snort. "Oh, so I suppose that after seven years of playing your foolish games you've decided to change. My _sincerest_ apologies, Potter."

James's gaze was unfaltering as he seemed to search her emerald green eyes for any sign of solicitude. After what seemed like ages, he sighed anticlimactically and began pulling Lily into an empty Potions classroom.

"Wha-James! What in Merlin's beard do you think you're doing?" she cried, trying to free herself from his iron grip.

James gave no answer as he made his way to the ingredients cupboard. Finally, he looked back at her and said, "Wait here."

Lily snorted in disbelief and muttered, "Yeah right… the bloody wanker…", but her curiosity got the better of her and she craned her neck to see what James was doing. He had entered the ingredients cupboard and seemed to be trying to open a small safe… wait. Was it-? It _was_! Merlin's pants! He was trying to get to the ruddy restricted ingredients!

"James!" she hissed, starting to panic now. He wasn't going to drug her or anything, was he? No…. he wouldn't… bloody hell. "What do you think you are _doing_?"

He seemed to have had success in opening the safe (something she would surely question him about later- _if there_ was _a later in her_ _near future_ , Lily gulped, a tad bit over-dramatically) and was now rummaging through it. After about a minute or so, he gave a grunt of success and pulled out a thin bottle with an unmistakable, clear liquid lightly bubbling in it: Veritaserum.

Now Lily was really frightened, yet her damned legs were firmly planted to the floor in terror. What would James do with the Veritaserum? Surely he wouldn't force her to drink it… What if he asked her about her feelings for him?

The truth was, Lily had absolutely no _clue_ what would come out- not even in the slightest. James had always been this pesky, no-good prankster who frustrated Lily to no ends, but recently, he had done the impossible and grown up. He focused on his work, had the decency to shut up here and there, and actually listened to others once in a while. She knew she would not be revealing any feelings for him or anything- heavens, no!- but she also knew that she wasn't ready to face her true thoughts on him either. How James had managed to gain even an iota of respect from her was a puzzling mystery to Lily… but it was also an unsettling realization.

"Er, James… what's that for?" she questioned, eyeing the vial warily, while doing all she could to appear calm. Even if she _did_ feel as if her stomach had eaten and regurgitated her lungs, there was no need for James to know that.

"I'm going to prove it to you."

"Um, prove what exactly?" She did not like where this was heading…

"Myself."

"…Yourself…"

` "Yes," he responded, as if it were a casual answer.

"And… how exactly do you plan to, er, _prove yourself_?"

James smirked, sending chills down Lily's spine- and, to her embarrassment, a light skip in her heartbeat- as he unscrewed the foreboding bottle of truth serum.

He walked towards her, bottle in hand, and what seemed to be the remaining rationality in Lily's mind screamed at her to make a run for it… but to no avail.

James was a mere foot away now, and he closed the gap by gently taking Lily's hand and pulling her close. He brushed a stray strand of her crimson hair away from her face and asked," Ready?"

" _NO_!" everything shrieked inside of her, yet she continued to stare at him in a frightened daze. She hastily tried to clear her mind enough to think straight and silently prayed that she wouldn't reveal anything too personal, preparing herself for the bubbly sizzle of Veristaserum in her throat.

To her surprise, however, Lily saw James bring the vial to his lips, squeeze his eyes shut, and chug the serum down in one gulp, wiping his lip with a sleeve and setting the bottle down on a table afterwards. She stared at him in shock as well as immense relief, wondering what exactly this crazy boy was doing. Now that her apprehensive haze had cleared up, she was able to marvel at the justice the dim classroom light did to James's featured face... his coffee-brown eyes specked with tiny golden flecks and the strong curves of his cheekbones and jaw etched smoothly into his skin...

She felt James step even closer to her, his hands slithering onto her waist and his face just a few inches from hers. She tensed as she felt him inhale a sharp breath, indulging in the feeling of his hair tickling her forehead and his warm sighs creeping down her back. Merlin, hadn't she just been ranting her _arse_ off at this boy? Only he had that affect on her...

"Lily Evans…"

Lily fluttered her eyes close and tried to steady her breathing. His right arm had made it up to the small of her back, where it gently traced up her spine, but his left was still firmly planted on her hips.

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel his intense gaze melting her insides…

"I love you with every last bit of my heart and soul, and I cannot lie."

The world around them seemed to disappear, now just a blur of obscured colors. Lily's entire body numbed at James's words, knowing they were a hundred percent true… She thought about every time James had asked her out, where he tried everything from yelling proposals across the Great Hall to flying on his broomstick to her window at midnight… Lily smiled to herself, wondering how _she_ \- nerdy, do-good Lily Evans- had caught the attention of _him_ \- popular, "perfect", James Potter.

James's lips had soon found hers, his hands woven in her fiery hair and his heart hammering against her chest.

She hesitated for a moment, then thought," _Oh, screw it! What's the point of lying to yourself..._ ", throwing her arms arms around James's neck. She ran a hand through his wild hair- something she had been fighting the urge to try for quite a while now- and indulged herself in the feeling of his body firmly pressed against hers.

They stood like that for a while, tangled together in a hot mess… and for once, Lily didn't pull away.


End file.
